This Dance
by Senatsu
Summary: Chaud extends an invitation to his friends to attend the masquerade ball his company is hosting. He didn't realize how such a simple act could result in such a drastic change of perspective on a close friend.
1. Invite

A/N: Short and sweet, for now. Just an intro of sorts.

**EDIT: Already one person has mistakenly thought that the kids are still the same age as in the series, despite chapter two specifically mentioning what age they are now - so I am updating this author's note to make it clear: they are _NO_****_T_ 10-12 years old in this story. They are 16. I'm not getting upset at the person who made the mistake, but I did want to prevent the misunderstanding from reaching any further readers. This story goes beyond puppy love and into genuine relationship territory. Therefore, it is important that it is understood they are no longer so young. They are old enough for these kinds of things to be significant. Thank you, and enjoy the read! **

"Yeah. It's in a month."

The group curiously examined the invitation that had been tossed onto the table. It displayed a grandly decorated ballroom, and elegant crimson calligraphy-like text that read "MASQUERADE."

"To be honest, I won't have much time to chat," Chaud continued, "because the entire point of hosting it is a whole lot of hobnobbing and networking. But I figured you guys might be interested in the free food at least." He let out a chuckle as Lan's eyes began to gleam the moment the words left his mouth. "Plus, there's going to be live music and dancing. I'm not crazy about the masquerade theme, personally, but it's sort of a trend with the elite right now." The boy ran a hand through his two-tone hair with a faint look of irritation, then shrugged.

"Anyway, if any of you are interested, let me know in the next couple of days. The dress code is kind of... expensive, so I'll make arrangements to take care of that for any of you that will be coming." At a resulting indignant sniff from off to the side, he smiled slightly. "Relax. I wasn't implying anything, Ayano. Since it's my event, I'm offering to take care of it. That's all."

The blonde girl still frowned, but seemed acceptably mollified by this.

"Wow, Chaud, it's really cool of you to invite us," Maylu finally piped up. She was now holding the invitation in her hands, admiring the image of the ball's location. "I'd definitely love to come! Consider me RSVP'd!"

Chaud laughed. "Duly noted, Sakurai." He glanced over at the person next to her, who was practically drooling by this point. "... Lan, I take it you're coming, too? Wait, before you answer, let me get you a napkin."

Lan yanked his sleeve across his mouth, reddening slightly. "Sh... shut up! Yeah I'm coming!" He grinned cheerfully. "I'd never miss the catering at an event like this!"

Lan's friend smirked, turning his gaze to their blonde companion expectantly. Predictably, she huffed when she noticed his eyes on her, crossing her arms. "I'll... see what my schedule is like. I'm a busy woman, you know."

"Of course." Chaud refrained from laughing again, but amusement flickered through his eyes. Then he turned back to Maylu and Lan. Make sure to pass the word to the others, will you? I've gotta get going, I'm due out for a business trip today."

Maylu and Lan both nodded, and Maylu gave a little wave. "No problem! See you later, Chaud!"

The boy held up a hand of his own in response as he made his exit.


	2. A Hundred Dresses

"You really didn't have to come, Chaud." Maylu tipped her head, gazing up at him with a puzzled smile. "Not that I'm complaining! But I'm sure you've got better things to do than watch a girl try on a hundred dresses."

The boy chuckled. "Trust me, I came along because I know you're _not_ one of those kinds of girls. You seem to usually have a pretty good idea of what you want, so I don't think I'll get stuck here for the next five years while you pick something. Besides, I don't have any meetings today."

Maylu shook her head. "I appreciate your vote of confidence. I'm not so sure you're right, considering what my bed looks like sometimes after trying to choose an outfit... but I appreciate it just the same."

"Mm, but is that all the time or just on... certain occasions?" He gazed at her in pointed amusement.

She flushed faintly in response. "A-ah, well... yeah, I guess it is." She laughed, rubbing her neck awkwardly. Then she took to muttering. "Don't know why I even ever bothered, honestly. It was like dressing up to catch the attention of a rock." Chaud turned his head away at this, covering up his mouth to stifle a snigger. Maylu caught sight of his shoulders shaking, and whacked him immediately. "Hey! It's not funny, you jerk!" Despite her words, however, she was clearly trying not to laugh. "Listen, not that you're currently in the market for a girl or anything, but pro-tip: we like to be told we're pretty!" She crossed her arms as they stepped through the door into the boutique.

"I'll try to remember that," Chaud said with a crooked grin, letting the door close behind them. "But if that's true, then I don't really get how Lan got to be such a ladies' man."

His companion groaned, dropping her head in her hands. "I don't even want to talk about that. Stupid Lan!" As they approached a rack of brightly-colored dresses, she gave him an annoyed look. "Well, he can do whatever he wants. I've thrown in the towel."

Chaud stopped in his tracks, startled. "You have?" That was the last thing he'd expected to hear from the lips of the girl who'd been in hopeful pursuit of Lan for the large majority of the sixteen years she'd been alive.

"Well... yeah." She gazed at the dresses, slowly sliding the hangers along the rack. "It's not that I've stopped caring, exactly. I still kinda wish he'd look at me that way. But I'm just not the kind of girl who's going to sit around until we're twenty years old and suddenly he wakes up and realizes I've been there all along! Jasmine can take over the job of wooing him, as far as I'm concerned." Maylu scowled, one hanger making a particularly loud screech as she shoved it along. "Stupid Lan." Then she sighed. "I've figured out that it's time to move on because, where it used to be a happy, exciting thing... now it's become such a huge source of frustration for me. It isn't working out, and it's driving me crazy to just keep worrying about it."

The girl paused, a dress in one hand, and looked over her shoulder at Chaud with a wry grin. "Hey... picking out dresses and talking about boys... this excursion girly enough for you, yet?"

Chaud snorted. "Yeah. Next stop, makeovers." Inwardly, though, he still found himself reeling with surprise. Not only at Maylu's admission on giving up on Lan, but at the level of her frustration. He'd known Lan was dense and oblivious... but he hadn't thought that his best friend would still be so completely blind to Maylu's affections as to leave her with no hope at all. After all, at the age of sixteen, they _were_ finally nearing the end of puberty. And among many subtle changes, she'd allowed her hair to grow out over the years. Surely even an idiot like Lan should've taken notice of a cute, smart girl like Maylu by now...?

His attention flickered over to the girl in question. She now stood in front of a nearby mirror, holding up one of the dresses against her experimentally.

"Hmm..." she said, frowning. "As much as I like purple, I really don't think it's my color." She returned the dress to the rack, now lifting off a green one she'd had her eye on.

Chaud eyed her, then the dresses. "I don't know. I think you could pull off pretty much any color you wanted to."

Maylu looked up at this in surprise. Then she grinned. "You say that now, but that's because you've never seen me in yellow." At Chaud's raised eyebrow, she shook her head. "It was two years ago, there was this one swimsuit, and... well, it was a capital B Bad Idea. I looked like a banana."

Again Chaud muffled a laugh. "I'm sure you made a very cute banana, Sakurai."

She groaned. "Definitely not." Another dress came off the rack. "I burned every picture that swimsuit was in."

"Damn, there's goes all my hopes of seeing it with my own eyes."

"It was either burn the evidence or crawl under a rock and never come out. I decided on the fire option."

Chaud leaned against a column, crossing his arms comfortably. "Hm. Maybe if I hire a forensics team..."

Maylu whipped around to look at him in horror.

He laughed. "I'm kidding."

She relaxed only slightly. "Yeah, but unlike anyone else who'd make that joke, you could actually do it." She delicately folded a dress over her arm, adding it to the small pile accumulating there. "All right, this is a good start. I'm off to the changing rooms!" Maylu grinned at him as she began to walk away. "If you get bored, I'm sure they could find something pretty in your size!"

Chaud rolled his eyes.

Once his friend had disappeared from view, he pulled his PET from its holster. Nothing urgent was waiting for him, but he nearly always used the downtime between activity to work on business. After all, he worked efficiently, and the spare minutes spent taking care of things gained him a great deal of free time after the fact.

"Hey, I'm ready to go!" a cheerful voice interrupted his focus, and he looked up from his work.

"You decided already?" The surprise was evident on his face.

Maylu smiled ear to ear, clearly pleased. "I know, I can't believe it either. Even I'm not usually this quick! But every now and then, you find something and you just... know." She cradled a bundle of aqua-blue fabric in her arms, looking down at it happily.

Chaud felt a strange twinge at these words, but thought nothing of it, straightening from the pillar. "Well, I'm not complaining!" He held out his hand. "Here, I'll take it to the counter." She slid the hanger into his grasp, and he headed for the cash wrap.

"Aw, shopping with your girlfriend?" said the cashier, a young blonde girl with a bright smile. "That's SO cute! What's the occasion?"

The boy startled, his hand faltering with the dress. He'd encountered the incorrect assumption more than once before, with both Anetta and Yai. Given the way both girls were prone to behaving around him, he couldn't blame anyone for guessing wrong. But no one had ever made the mistake with Maylu before, and it caught him off guard.

Before he could recover, Maylu piped up from behind him. "Oh, he's just a friend! He's helping me get ready for an event."

The cashier looked disappointed, scanning the tag on the dress. "Oh, I'm sorry... I thought for sure from the way you two looked talking to each other that you were together!"

Chaud was even less certain how to respond to this than he had been to the previous remark. Looked like they were together? What did that even mean? He only barely managed to register the cashier reading the total to him - a sum that made Maylu flinch slightly - in time to lift his PET to make the payment.

"Thank you so much! Have a good day!" the girl behind the counter said, cheerful once again as she handed him the bag containing the dress.

He nodded to her, stowing his PET in his holster and turning on his heel to leave. Maylu smiled at the girl and waved, then moved to follow him out the door.

As the two customers made their exit, a brunette stopped folding clothes and shot the blonde an annoyed look. "You are such a meddler! I saw you eavesdropping on them, you knew they weren't together!"

The blonde grinned sheepishly. "I can't help it! She said herself she was giving up on whoever the other guy is! And you saw the way this guy was looking at her, right?" Then she started giggling. "Although, judging by the look on his face when I called her his girlfriend, it's a new concept for him. So now he'll start thinking about it, and once he figures it out - voila, match made in heaven!"

A moment later, a shirt hit the blonde in the face, and the annoyed brunette put her hands on her hips. "You don't get paid to match-make, little miss Cupid. Start folding!"

**A/N:** I'm trying to keep Chaud from being TOO fluffy, but you'll note that he's more friendly here than he is in the series. I tried to balance it out as best as I could by still keeping him calm and sarcastic. But based on their ages by the point this story starts (I have them at 16; in the series they were 12), I figure he's had years to mellow out some.


	3. Shoes (But Not Really)

**AN:** A heads up for those readers who didn't get to see the author's note at the beginning - Chaud and Maylu are 16 years old for this story. :) So about four or five years have passed since the series ended!

And now for some shoe-talk! Who doesn't love shoes, amirite?

Chaud: Kill me now.

**XoXoXoXoX**

"Shoes too?! Chaud, really, it's okay! I've got some plain black heels at home, I can just use those! The dress is so long to begin with, they won't even show!"

Chaud shook his head, sighing. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind, but considering that you're going to be partying with the rich and the snobby..." He couldn't help but grin ironically at these words. "Look, you know how I used to be - they're vicious. If your toe so much as peeks out from your dress and your shoes aren't up to par, you're never going to hear the end of it. We're getting you a set that matches, end of story."

Maylu groaned, but grinned back at him. "All right, I guess you make a good point. Just... please, for the love of God, help me find a pair that's comfortable to wear for more than sixty seconds? I am not murdering my feet in a pair of killer heels meant to last me an entire six hour party."

He sniggered. "Don't worry, Sakurai, we'll make sure you get something you can actually walk in. At the very least, they won't be able to tell whether or not you've got heels on under that dress. So if we can find you a dressy pair of flats, so much the better. Er, unless you want heels? You did mention the ones you had at home..."

Maylu held up a hand. "Please! Flats sound fantastic. Believe me, even my trusty, broken-in, black heels get to be a pain after a while." She looked amused. "Although it's funny to hear you say 'flats.' I'm used to Lan. He barely even knows what flip-flops are. Let alone what to call a shoe that is completely sans-heel." She was surprised to notice Chaud's cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink, although his expression didn't change.

"I just pay attention, that's all."

The girl snickered. "Well that explains it. I mean, we all know what Lan is worst at..."

The corner of Chaud's mouth quirked up. "I'm sure Ms. Mari knows better than anyone." He went quiet again after this, glancing out the window as the car passed through town, on its way to the shoe boutique. His eyes drifted to Maylu's reflection, the sales girl's words floating back through his head. From the way they were talking to each other? What had she meant by that? With Anetta and Yai, people misunderstanding his relationship with them always seemed to stem from how they behaved physically around him - although Anetta added to the problem by being verbally affectionate as well, whereas Yai couldn't even admit so much as she liked being on the same planet as him.

So what was it about his conversation with Maylu that had given this sales girl the wrong idea? Chaud had never had a girlfriend before. Hell, he'd never even had a crush. Besides which, his exposure to girls who could be considered friends (and not fangirls) was still relatively limited. Almost every single one, he'd met through Lan. And the only two he considered to be "close" friends were Anetta and Maylu.

Ordinarily, his impressive set of observational skills and his quick mind were useful when something stumped him. But in this scenario, he had nothing to analyze and compare. And it was driving him crazy.

"Geez, what's so interesting out there that you can't even hear me anymore?" came Maylu's amused voice, her face abruptly right next to his as she peered out his car window over his shoulder.

It was only his years of fighting for the Net Police that kept his reflexes in check. Otherwise he'd have jumped halfway out of his skin. "Uh... sorry." He held very still; if he even so much as turned to look at her, his lips would only be a breath away from her cheek. As it was, he was close enough that he could feel the soft heat that drifted off of her skin. The sensation was distracting to the point of being ridiculous. "I got a bit distracted trying to sort out some business things. I didn't mean to zone out on you like that." To his relief, this answer seemed to satisfy her, and she scooted back to her own half of the seat with a laugh.

"Normally, a girl would be offended to lose out to_ business_ when it comes to someone's attention," she said with a grin, "but since it's you, I understand."

Chaud thought it ironic that it was actually the exact opposite: she'd _won_ out over everything else. But he'd be damned if he was going to confess to that. That'd make it sound like he was interested in her, which would be completely the wrong signal. It was just that he was stumped and confused, and when he was stumped and confused, he didn't leave the problem alone until it made sense to him.

"There you go again, off to dreamland. Er, business-land." Maylu laughed. "I dunno, Chaud, you sure you're up to shoe shopping? Choosing the right pair of shoes is serious business, you know." Her eyes twinkled with amusement.

Chaud smirked. "But of course." Then he tipped his head, lounging back against his seat comfortably. "Why do I get a free pass on being distracted 'since it's me', anyway? I'm pretty sure Lan wouldn't escape unscathed..." He was fairly certain he knew the answer - she wanted Lan's attention specifically, and therefore she'd get upset if Lan got distracted by something else. But he was curious what she'd say.

Maylu gave him a wry grin in return. "Well, you are sort of running a multi-billion-dollar company. If that isn't an excuse to be distracted, I don't know what is." She brushed a piece of lint off her knee. "And anyway... I know you're here because you want to be." When he gave her an inquisitive look, she continued, "Well, let's face it - I don't think there's anyone alive who can make you do something you don't wanna do. Maybe when you were younger, but definitely not now. So even if you do get a little distracted, I don't have to worry it's because there's something you'd rather be doing..." The girl picked at the hem of her shirt, frustration evident in her face. "It wasn't that way, with Lan. So I guess most of the time I was just frustrated because I knew he had higher priorities..." She shook her head. "Well, that can be some other girl's problem to deal with, now."

Chaud felt a twinge of guilt. After what Maylu had confessed earlier in the trip, he'd known it would be a sensitive subject... and he'd gone ahead and asked anyway. What was the matter with him?

It couldn't possibly have been that he was bothered by idea that Maylu didn't care whether or not she had his attention.

Discarding the preposterous notion immediately, he cleared his throat. "Hey... I know it probably doesn't help much to hear it, but for what it's worth - it's his loss." At the look on her face, he added, "I'm not saying that just because I think it's what you want to hear. You said it yourself: I don't do what I don't want to. I'm not one to dish out fake compliments, either."

She remained sober for a moment, but then smiled, finally, to his relief. "Thanks, Chaud. It does help, a little. I usually feel like I don't measure up to the competition."

The boy shook his head. "The only thing wrong with you is your taste in men." He realized immediately after the words left his mouth that it was a risky joke to make. To his relief, she laughed in response. Still, he didn't want to push his luck with any further such attempts at humor. Really, where was his head today?

Maylu seemed to have brightened back up, and she crossed her legs comfortably. "What about you, Chaud?" she asked, a teasing note in her voice. "How are your prospects these days?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "I have the opposite problem. Mine won't take the hint and leave me alone."

His friend giggled, running her fingers through the strands of her ponytail. "I've noticed. Well hey, maybe you can do that thing where you get a fake girlfriend to make everyone else back off." Chaud stared at her as if she'd grown two heads, which only served to make her laugh more.

"I'm pretty sure that would just cause more problems," he muttered, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in a classic Chaud pose.

"Well, yeah. But it'd be pretty entertaining."

He cracked one eye open to glare at her momentarily before closing it again. "I can just see it now - you standing by with a bowl of popcorn for when the sparks start flying."

Maylu grinned. "Of course, nothing holds a candle to that time that hoard of fangirls got past security and started coming after you."

Chaud slid down in his seat with a groan, as if trying to disappear into his red vest. "I've been trying to forget about that. Please stop reminding me."

"Especially that one with the veil and the white dress?"

"Oh God."

Maylu mimed clasping a veil over her hair. "Chaud! Chaud, I've come for you, my love!" Her voice had gone three times higher in pitch.

"You are NOT doing this."

"I wore this dress just for you, my sweet!"

"Sakurai-"

"Chaaaaaud! Where are you going, darling?! I've come to take you to our love-love nest...!"

"I said knock it off!"

"Chaud, my love, you are running the wrong way! The church is in the other direction-"

"Oh, that is IT!"

In a matter of seconds, his seatbelt was off and his hands were at her ribcage. Maylu shrieked with surprised laughter. "H-hey, Chaud! No, wait, st... stop... ahaha, stop...!"

"So, you DO know what those words mean," he said, his fingers attacking her sides mercilessly. "You were ignoring me so well, I was beginning to think you didn't!"

"I repent! I'm sorry!" She continued to laugh helplessly, trying in vain to fight off his attack. "Nooooooo...!" At last his fingers halted, allowing her to breathe.

He gazed down at her, opening his mouth to say something triumphant as the clear victor. However, his voice seemed to catch in his throat. Her cheeks were flushed from her struggle; her smile stretched ear to ear, with soft lips slightly parted as they drew in fresh air; her eyes sparkled with the remains of her laughter; tousled strands of hair had fallen from her ponytail and hung in a lovely mess around her face.

Chaud sat back abruptly, removing himself to his half of the seat and fastening the seatbelt over himself once more. "So there," he said lamely, crossing his arms again. "Next time I won't let you off so easy."

Maylu pulled her hair binder out, letting the rest of her hair fall around her neck and shoulders so that she could redo it tidily. "Chaud, I didn't even know you knew what tickling was!" she said with a grin, fingers straightening her hair as she talked. "Let alone that you'd ever resort to it."

He felt a faint heat in his cheeks. "If you were a guy, I'd have just punched you. I didn't really have many options." That said, he thought that finding a third option might be best.

He wasn't certain how he felt about the after-effects of this one.


	4. Sweets

"Wait, you want me to what?" Chaud stared at his PET screen. Had he just heard her correctly?

"You don't have to come to the actual bake sale itself if you don't want to," Maylu continued, sounding desperate, "but _please_ come help me bake! The girl who was supposed to be doing this with me got sick, Yai is out of the country, Lan would just make a disaster out of the kitchen and eat everything we're supposed to sell, and do you really want me to go through the entire rest of the list of people I could ask to help who can't help?!"

"Whoah, relax, Sakurai!" he said, putting a hand up with its palm facing her, cutting off any potential continuation. "I didn't say I wouldn't help. I was just... surprised." Then the corner of his mouth twitched faintly. "Although I am curious as to why I'm at the bottom of this supposed list of people, since you already seem to know that no one else can help."

"You're actually at the top of the list of people who would be genuinely helpful," Maylu admitted, "But I really didn't think you would be all that happy about getting stuck baking, of all things, especially since it's for a school you don't even go to, so I wanted to save you as a last resort. And here we are." She ran a hand through her cherry-red hair, the long strands frazzled enough to reveal she'd probably been making that same worried gesture all morning long.

Chaud felt a strange sense of relief at her explanation, now that it was clear that her idea of him as a "last resort" was only in relation to her concern for whether he liked baking. "Well, I'd be the first to admit I'm no expert at baking," he remarked with a chuckle, "but I think I can at least avoid starting any fires, or turning baked goods into rocks." The boy paused, glancing at the clock in the lower right of the PET screen. "Listen, I just have to make a few last calls and send a couple emails, and then I'll head over." He was satisfied to see the anxiety completely melt away from his friend's posture, her shoulders going limp.

"Thanks, Chaud," she said, a huge smile splitting her face. "I seriously owe you one."

"Don't worry about it. You can pay me back by saving me from any awkward dances at the masquerade."

She laughed at this. "You got it. I'll see you in a bit, Chaud!"

The video cut and faded, returning the screen to Protoman as Chaud leaned back in his computer chair. He noticed his navi regarding him quietly, and raised an eyebrow in response. "What?"

The navi shrugged. "Just wondering what you look like in an apron."

"Shut up."

**XoXoXoXoX**

Maylu made sure to wait until Chaud had his hands full - a tray full of hot cookies fresh out of the oven - before daring to snap a photo of him with her PET. He gave her a half-lidded look of annoyance in response, setting the tray on the cooling rack and reaching for the next batch where it sat waiting. "Enjoying yourself?" he muttered, sliding the doughy goods into the oven and closing the door.

"Way more than I thought I would when I about had a meltdown this morning," she said, grinning. "Covered in flour is a good look for you, by the way. You should try it more often."

The boy scowled as he pulled off the oven mitts, swiping a hand over his face self-consciously. "See if I ever help you in your hour of need again."

"I couldn't resist! There are exactly zero embarrassing photos of you in existence, and I figured it was time you caught up with the rest of us and had some," she said, laughing. Then she flicked out her PET's stand and set it on the counter, where Roll could watch over their progress.

Chaud paused, cringing. "There's a reason for that," he said, examining himself in the oven's dark reflective surface and trying to get at more of the flour dusting his nose and cheeks. "You're not the only one who would rather burn certain things than go into hiding for the rest of forever."

Maylu's eyes widened. "Nu uh. What embarrassing photos could there have been of _you_?"

"Let's just say there was this... wig..." Chaud trailed off, his cheeks threatening to fill with blood if he continued.

"A wig?! What'd it look like?!" Maylu demanded immediately, leaning in.

"Wh-all you need to know is that I was undercover as a member of the Net Police. End of story."

"Hey! You can't just not tell me now!" she protested, looking as though she had just been deprived of a new toy.

He glanced at her over her his shoulder, voice dry with amusement. "Oh, I can. Just watch me." Then he stepped over to the counter and began spooning dollops of cookie dough onto a sheet, acting as though nothing had even happened.

Maylu puffed her cheeks out, miffed. She knew without even trying that no amount of wheedling and harassment could pry it out of him if he had decided against sharing. Still... Lan might know this story - and Lan she could _easily_ secure information from. Even when he wasn't willing to just hand it over, the promise of food was enough to get his tongue wagging. Maylu grinned to herself. She'd have this story yet, whether Chaud was going to give it to her or not.

"Fine, fine, have it your way," she said, returning to the task of icing a set of fully-cooled baked goodies. She squeezed the plastic tube expertly in her hands, twisting it as she went to keep all the remaining icing pressed into the nozzle. The icing delicately traced a white path on the cookie beneath it, leaving the outline of flower petals in its wake. Satisfied at the result, the girl smiled and set her nozzle to the next cookie, twisting the bag further. Squeeze, draw, twist... squeeze, draw, twist... squeeze-

"Huh. You're pretty good at that." Maylu yelped with surprise as Chaud's voice drifted directly into her ear. Her hands tightened ferociously on the bag of icing, leaving a Hershey kiss-sized puddle of white on the cookie she'd been decorating. "Ah, maybe I spoke too soon," he added, his tone dripping with amusement. "That one looks kinda like poo, Sakurai. I don't think anyone will buy it." He had positioned himself right over her shoulder to watch her work, so silent that the girl hadn't even noticed his approach.

"And whose fault do you think that is?!" she said, exasperated. The bag swung up to Chaud's face. "Jerk."

He startled, taking a step backwards. "Hey, now, no need to start a food fight..."

But Maylu was having none of that. "Roll, man the camera!" she declared, pointing at her navi.

What happened next was sort of a blur in Chaud's mind - there was Maylu, a weaponized bag of icing, sugary glaze all over his face - and then the next thing he knew, he was on his back on her kitchen floor, and she sitting right on his stomach, looking wicked and triumphant.

The boy shook his head to clear it. "Sakurai, what in the hell..." Then he trailed off, going still. He was suddenly very painfully aware of the pair of the slender female thighs that pressed against either side of his torso, and of her weight resting just above his groin. His brain immediately informed him that he should move. Anywhere. Away. Now.

His body, on the other hand, appeared to have gone on strike. At least, that was the best he could figure, given that it hadn't budged an inch despite his demands that it do so.

The only silver lining was that Maylu didn't notice a single moment of his confused distress.

"Revenge!" she said, finally - thank God - standing up and retrieving her virtual device off the counter, aiming it straight at him and getting at least five snapshots in before he finally had the wherewithal to clamber to his feet and swipe at the mess on his face.

"That settles it," he muttered, shuffling to the sink. "Officially never helping you bake ever again." He ignored the way his heart beat as quickly as if it'd just had a battle-induced adrenaline rush.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice before sneaking up on me," Maylu replied with a haughty sniff, returning to her work.

Yes. Yes, he probably would.


	5. On the Run

**A/N:** I'm ret-conning the masquerade to be a month away (as I originally wrote it to be two weeks away) when Chaud gives the invitations to everyone. I figure a big event like that is planned long in advance, giving them more time to make sure they have room in their schedules and also giving Chaud and Maylu more time to get to know each other better before the dance. ;)

**XoXoXoXoX**

"How fast _is_ this guy?!" Maylu wailed, skidding around the sidewalk corner at a hundred miles an hour, her red shoes pounding against the pavement as she ran.

Chaud said nothing as he followed right on her heels, the expression on his face a cross between irritation and dismay. He risked a glance over his shoulder; sure enough, the man was still hot on their trail. "Damn!"

"I've heard that talent scouts can be aggressive, but this is_ ridiculous_!" The girl darted between two different couples, nearly knocking both over in the process. "Sorrysorrysorry!" Her eyes searched the surrounding buildings frantically. Surely there had to be _someplace_ to hide in the middle of an urban jungle?!

Out of nowhere, she felt herself jerked back and to the side, then hauled right on into an open segment of a revolving door. Chaud held her by the wrist with one hand and pushed the door forward with the other. The two of them fled into the giant clothing store, looking left and right frantically. Suddenly Chaud pointed, and the two of them took off again.

The man who'd been in pursuit shoved through the store's entrance moments later. Impressively only somewhat out of breath despite the chase, he trotted down the central aisle, gaze darting in and out of the racks of blouses and denim jeans. After turning a corner and pacing forward, he paused at an intersection of aisles where a display of mannequins stood, scratching his head in puzzlement. He'd been so close behind them when he'd caught sight of them dodging into the store. Where could they have vanished to so quickly?

Immediately behind him, beads of sweat formed on the faces of two "mannequins" on the display stand. Maylu had donned a floppy, wide-brimmed sunhat, and Chaud had a gauze fashion scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face and over his hair. Both wore large designer sunglasses. They remained frozen in place: Chaud crouched on one knee, while Maylu stood with her feet planted wide and her hands folded innocently behind her back. After what seemed like forever, the scout shrugged and moved on. The teens simultaneously let out a silent breath of relief. Still, neither one budged. He was still nearby in the store, and the last thing they wanted to do was have him catch sight of them again - at the very least, not without a significant head start.

It was not until they saw him pacing toward the entrance and heard the tell-tale spin of the revolving door that they finally relaxed. Chaud ripped the scarf off his head immediately, making a sound of disgust. "That thing is stifling!" he said, tossing it carelessly onto a nearby shelf.

Maylu pulled off her hat, laughing. "I can't say I mind the sunglasses, though." She admired herself momentarily in the mirror of a nearby pillar before neatly placing them on the spinner rack she'd taken them from.

Chaud rolled his eyes. "At least one of us was enjoying ourselves." He hooked his thumbs on his pockets as the two of them strolled back around the corner.

"What, you mean you don't like being chased halfway around the city?" Maylu said, grinning, adjusting her hair from the mess made by the hat.

He opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by an "Ah-HA!" from the direction of the door. The two teens were horrified to discover that the talent scout had faked his exit by sending the revolving door spinning without actually entering it. He now advanced on them, grinning triumphantly. They turned in unison, booking it in the opposite direction, their shoes squeaking on the tiled floor.

Chaud muttered a string of curses under his breath. "Stupid! I should have checked to make sure he was gone!"

"It's not like either of us was expecting him to go that far!" Maylu said. "But now what do we do?!"

They wheeled around another corner, and Chaud pointed. "The escalator! Up!" Together they ran, tossing apologies over their shoulders as they wove their way through the other riders on the moving stairway. Then Chaud nudged his friend's shoulder and jerked his head toward the back of the store. He took off in that direction, with her following close behind; when they reached the wall, he pushed right through a door marked "Employees Only".

"Chaud, wait, if anyone finds us in here, we're going to get thrown out," Maylu whispered anxiously. "Then he'll catch us all over again!" Before she could continue protesting, however, Chaud had located the utility closet and yanked it open, ushering her inside and then closing the door behind the both of them.

"They generally can't vacuum or mop or anything until the store closes," he explained, his voice low. "I don't think anyone will be opening this door in the near future. It's not foolproof, I know, but it was the best I could think of on short notice."

It was only as they settled into silence that Maylu became aware of just how close Chaud's body heat was, the sounds of his breathing near. She gingerly reached a hand out behind her to locate the wall, hoping to back away and create a little space between them. But the wall, unfortunately, was only about an inch behind where she already stood.

It occurred to her that this was a very small utility closet.

"So, um, how will we know when we can leave?" she whispered, trying to ignore their proximity now that she knew there was nowhere to go.

"We won't, really," he said, sighing. "I'd say our best bet is to wait about half an hour, then get going. If he's still out there by then, we'll just have to run again. We can't sit around in here all day long. But at least it gives a chance to rest in case we do get chased around the other half of the city."

Half an hour? Maylu swallowed nervously. Her attack on Chaud in the kitchen had been a moment of impulse, adrenaline, and playful revenge. She'd only realized after the fact what an awkward position she'd put them both in. And with that incident fresh in her mind, here she was, trapped with him in a tiny closet.

It didn't help that he smelled ridiculously good.

Silent minutes crawled by, conversation too great a risk with employees ducking into the back room now and again. Maylu's fingers traced along the rough, dirty wall behind her, exploring its contours as she attempted to ignore the embarrassing observation about her friend that had come out of nowhere. Eventually, after determining that she would not be hindered by any cleaning supplies, she slid down, seating herself on the floor with her knees pulled up. If they were to be caught in here by an employee, the person would be standing in the way of the only exit. With no way to flee, there was no reason to stand at the ready. Chaud seemed to reach the same conclusion, though another minute passed before he joined her on the floor. With her knees already taking up the center, his legs shifted to either side, like bookends. Another couple of minutes dragged past. Then the dark closet was lit with a small glow as two PETs came out of their holsters.

Chaud quickly tapped out a message to his head butler, requesting that a limo and a couple of bodyguards be sent to meet them. He felt like an idiot for not having thought of it sooner. But then, for some reason, his head didn't seem to be screwed on quite right to begin with, these days. His eyes lifted from the screen of the device, gaze coming to rest on Maylu. She appeared to be deeply intent on whatever she had pulled up on her own screen.

Maylu, for her part, was flicking through her various social media accounts. She was deeply relieved at the excuse to ignore the awkward tension involved in being stuck here with Chaud. Despite at least five years having passed since he'd originally become part of their circle, she still knew so little about him compared to the rest of her close friends. Even Yai, who typically was no good at conveying her real feelings, felt like an open book compared to the white-and-black-haired boy who sat across from Maylu now. Still, ever since the day he'd invited them all to the masquerade, she suddenly seemed to be making more progress on that front than in all the previous five years put together.

Something had clearly gone right on their outing to choose her dress and shoes for the ball, seeming to break down some kind of invisible barrier that had kept them from spending time together outside of where Lan was involved.

Of course, Chaud was a busy person, so it wasn't as though he spent a great deal of time with Lan, either, outside of the Net Police. Still, now that she actually reflected on it, Maylu was surprised that they'd seen so relatively little of each other over the past few years, considering all that they'd been through on Beyondard together. Maybe it was the fact that the foreign place was so detached from their own world that when they returned from it, everything simply reverted back to how it had been.

As she sifted through her memories of that world beyond, one in particular teased an involuntary chuckle out of her, muffled though it was. Chaud, realizing she'd not been looking at her PET, grew curious. "What?" he whispered inquisitively. Though he kept his voice low just in case, there had been no employees passing through for quite some time. A small bit of conversation shouldn't be too big a risk.

Maylu flushed faintly, embarrassed at having unconsciously laughed aloud. "I was just remembering the look on your face when I put the facial cream on," she said softly, leaning her head back against the wall with a smile. "In that abandoned old building in Beyondard, when you were trying to get connected through that radio thing."

Chaud was speechless for a moment. "Why on earth were you digging up an old memory like that?" he said at last, unable to keep his own lips from turning upward as he recalled it himself. He, too, clearly remembered the way his jaw had practically dropped back then. Twelve-year-old Chaud had looked over at Maylu, smiling, about to share the news that he'd gotten the clunky old computer-radio up and running. Instead his voice had come out in a startled squawk as he caught sight of his companion with a white-green paste covering her entire face.

"I'm not really sure," she said, tapping the toes of her shoes together with a light clicking sound. "I guess I was just thinking about how the circumstances at the time forced us to be close. A team, like you and Lan and Raika usually are." She laughed. "Although I'm painfully aware that I was practically useless compared to either of them."

"That's not true at all," Chaud protested. "Not being an expert fighter doesn't automatically make you useless. When we got to the train tracks and heard the train coming, and those viruses started attacking - you didn't even hesitate. You ran right for the closest jack-in point because you wanted to warn the train that they were in danger. Not to mention that if you hadn't done that, we might not have known in time that Roll and Protoman could substantiate."

Maylu was surprised at the encouragement. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, feeling suddenly shy. "I didn't know you saw it that way," she said, smiling down at her knees. "Thanks, Chaud." The girl brushed her hands over her skirt, feeling a pleasant warmth inside. "Well, anyway... I was just thinking about how when we got back, it was kinda like it never happened..."

"What do you mean?" Chaud asked with a frown.

"I don't know, it's just... While we were stranded together, you, Roll, and Protoman were the only connections I had to home. You were even the first thing I woke up to seeing, when we fell there." The girl picked at the hem of her shirt sleeve absently. "We traveled together for days and days before we finally found the others. I really felt like I was starting to get to know you. Then we got back home, and we sort of just went back to being... I don't know, friendly acquaintances."

"... I see what you mean," Chaud admitted, resting his forearms on his knees. "But for what it's worth, it's not like it never happened."

Maylu tipped her head curiously. "It isn't?"

"Well, if it hadn't been for our shared history, I wouldn't have chosen to go dress-shopping with you," he remarked, leaning back. "I told you the truth when I said I didn't mind it. But if I didn't think of you as a good friend, I would have spent my time doing something else."

"Really?"

He tossed his bangs out of his eyes. "And we _were_ going to get coffee today, until we ran into that bastard of a talent scout."

"True..." The girl rested her chin on her hands. "But you have to admit, I've seen you way more in the past two weeks than I ever did before."

Chaud pondered on this silently for a few moments. "I guess..." he began hesitantly, "I guess it's because I don't invest in people very easily. After my mother died, my father raised me to keep my distance. But then Lan and I just seemed to keep getting thrown together, again and again. I can't even count how many times we've fought together. I tried to shrug him off like I did everyone else, but despite my best efforts, in the end I found I trusted him." He snorted. "It helps that he's persistent as hell." Maylu laughed softly but said nothing to interrupt. "And once he was in, it made it easier for the same thing to happen with Raika, when he eventually came along. Everyone else, I did start to think of as friends... but I didn't really do anything about it. With Lan and Raika, we were just together all the time, so it was natural. With you guys, I'd have to intentionally pursue the friendship. Make the active choice to invest. Turns out that what I learned from my father is really difficult to unlearn." He sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair.

"I do think I'm making progress, though. Unlearning, that is. And when I went shopping with you, I guess it was sort of a wake-up call that there are in fact friendships I want to pursue actively." For a moment, his voice took on a tinge of embarrassment. "Problem is, I'm not really sure what I'm doing."

Maylu smiled at him, the light of her PET casting a soft glow on her features. "I think that's the case for most of us humans," she said, laughing lightly. "I'd be more than happy to help you figure it out along the way, though."

Chaud smiled back at her, and their eyes locked in that moment. Maylu found herself unable to look away, despite the heat rising in her cheeks. Her friend seemed about to say something, his lips parting, but he was abruptly cut off by the faint buzzing of his PET.

He glanced down, finding that his chauffeur and the bodyguards had arrived and were waiting for them. At this, he unfolded himself, rising carefully to his feet. "Looks like it's time to go, Sakurai." He offered her his hand.

Maylu curled her fingers over his palm, allowing him to help her up. She grimaced. "I seriously hope he's not still out there..."

"Don't worry, even if he is, we'll be fine." It was only then that Chaud realized he hadn't even mentioned to her about the message he'd sent out. "Oh, whoops. I forgot to tell you, but my limo and my guards are waiting for us. They'll scare even that guy off, if he tries to follow." And it was at this moment that he had a second realization, while preparing to open the door - he hadn't released Maylu's hand from his grip.

It took every bit of willpower he had to let go gently, instead of dropping it abruptly as though he'd been burned. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

As he opened the door and let them out back into the light, Maylu held her now-free hand with the other, pressing it to her chest. She could still feel the warmth of his skin lingering there...


	6. Bespectacled

"How about these?" Maylu held up a wire-rimmed pair for Chaud to see.

The boy sighed, taking them out of her hand and turning them around so he could rest them on his ears and nose. "What a pain," he said for the umpteenth time. "I mean, what happens if they break while I'm fighting?"

Maylu looked amused. "Doesn't your Cross Fused form have a visor that comes across your eyes anyway? I think they'd be pretty protected."

"But even the visor breaks every now and then, if something gets a good shot at my helmet," Chaud muttered. He removed the pair from his face and put them back on the shelf. "I don't like these."

His friend put her hands on her hips, laughing. "It's taking you ten times longer to pick these out than it took me to pick my dress! How many pairs have we gone through?"

"That's different!" Chaud protested, sounding whiny. It was the first time Maylu could ever recall hearing that particular tone in his voice. "You _wanted_ a dress! I don't want glasses!"

"Don't be such a baby." She thrust a new pair into his hands, grinning wickedly. "It's not like anyone is gonna go around calling you Four Eyes. And even if they did, I'd teach 'em a lesson for you." She pretended to flex her biceps.

Chaud gave her a half-lidded look in response, then turned to examine himself in the mirror. "Ugh." He took them off and put them away. This was definitely _not_ how he'd pictured the results of today's eye exam. Sure, it'd been a while since he'd gotten himself checked, and sure, things were a little hard to make out at times, but really, he was just fine! Despite the eye doctor's orders, he wouldn't even be here choosing frames if it weren't for Maylu. He'd sounded grumpy when she called him early in the afternoon. She had wanted to know why.

_"It's not like it matters anyway," he'd muttered, looking away from the screen with his chin in his hand. "My eyes aren't that bad. I'll be fine without them."_

_Maylu was clearly startled. "Chaud, you can't just not get glasses! Why would you make yourself strain to see when you don't have to?"_

_"I don't need them, Sakurai, and that's final!"_

So of course they ended up at the store together looking at glasses frames.

Chaud, sulking, didn't notice Maylu's eyes light on a pair halfway down the shelf in front of her, nor the interested expression on her face. The style was one that was trending lately - a narrow-ish rectangular shape, the rims thick and dark. She gingerly lifted them into her hands, examining them from a few different angles, then nodded to herself. "Chaud," she said, and he turned to face her, looking weary.

To his surprise, this time instead of handing over the pair she'd been looking at, she reached up to him, gently sliding the glasses into place herself. Her fingers brushed over his temples, past the dark locks of hair that framed either side of his face, and over the tops of his ears. He felt his ears start to get hot almost immediately as her skin grazed his. All too soon, the glasses had settled into position, and she withdrew her hands. Chaud was left momentarily speechless.

For never having had any training, she was one hell of a hypnotist.

Now Maylu stepped back, scrutinizing him. Her hand soon returned to him, gently touching his chin and tipping his head one way, then the other. She released him and walked around him in a circle, then crossed her arms and smiled, clearly pleased.

"I like _those_," she said.

Chaud's mostly-empty mind thought, _'I like_ her.'

And then he thought, _'Wait._ _What_?!'


	7. One, Two, Three

**A/N:** Thank you, Witchkitty and MirrorImage for your continued reviews and support! :) I write fanfics because they're fun for me, but readers like you guys make it a hundred times more enjoyable to do!

**XoXoXoXoX**

"Sorry!" Maylu said for the hundredth time, cringing as she stepped on Chaud's toes.

"If I put on a pair of steel-toed boots, will you stop apologizing?" he said drily. "Relax. I assure you, my feet are just fine. And you are most definitely not a klutzy dancer. You've just had barely any time to get used to the steps yet."

Maylu sighed. "I still feel like this will be a waste of your time..." she said, smoothing down her skirt. "Even if I was capable of learning the steps like you seem to think I am, I doubt even more that I'll be able to do it by the time the masquerade comes around.

"I have faith in you," he told her, chuckling. "Besides, you already promised to get me out of any awkward dances. "No getting out of it now!"

"But Chaud," Maylu wailed, "What if I _am_ the awkward dance?!"

He paused at this, raising an eyebrow. "Hm... dancing with any of those vapid, snotty, prissy little divas, or dancing with a girl who has a good head on her shoulders and actually pays attention to the world beyond the end of her nose. Really, what a dilemma."

Maylu had to smile at this, looking up at him now. "All right, all right, you win," she said with a laugh. "I'll keep practicing."

Chaud gave her a smile of satisfaction in return, then nodded at his butler to hit play on the music track once again so that he could resume teaching her the formal dances they would use at the ball. Even now that they'd been at it for almost an hour, Chaud was still having difficulty keeping his thoughts together.

When she'd first arrived, it had been nigh-impossible.

He'd still been reeling from his revelation of the day before as to his potential interest in her. And they had already set up the dance lessons prior to the incident. He couldn't simply back out due to being confused about where he stood with her. Still, during the earlier half of the day, he'd run into things no less than three times.

_"Sir..."_

_Chaud rubbed his head in exasperation, grateful that none of his servants had seen the lamp debacle. Or the potted plant from this morning. He immediately noticed the amused tone in his navi's voice. "Protoman, if you say one single word about me actually needing glasses, I will anchor you to my desktop computer and put you on firewall duty only for the next month."_

_As usual, the visor betrayed nothing behind it, but the navi's mouth quirked faintly upward at the corners. "I was only going to tell you that you have an incoming call from Miss Sakurai."_

_WHAM._

_Chaud stared dazedly up at the door from his new vantage point on the floor, momentarily unclear as to what had happened. Then he hurriedly scrambled to his feet. "Well, pick up the call, then!" he said, trying to sound normal. He halted when he saw that Protoman was holding a fist to his mouth, as if coughing. He also knew his navi was not coughing._

_"Ah, about that..."_

_Now the Net Op went very still. "Protoman," Chaud said, his voice suddenly all too genial. "Tell me, do I really have an incoming call right now?"_

_"No, sir."_

_"You made it up."_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"I'm reprogramming your armor to pink. For the rest of your life."_

Still, despite Chaud's outrage at the prank, he had to admit that the sound of Protoman's laughter - a sound far more rare than even Chaud's own laughter - was a welcome one, and one that always made him smile.

Even if he was angry enough to be half-serious about the pink.

But all of that seemed worlds away the moment Maylu had stepped towards him for her very first dance lesson. She delicately rested her palm in his outstretched hand, and he pulled her close, placing his hand on her hip. And though progress was halting as he taught her the steps, patiently demonstrating each time she lost track, leading her slowly around the room... Chaud could never recall feeling so enraptured.

It was a marvel to him, all the little things he noticed now that had never seemed to matter with a dance partner before - the way the proximity of her body heat held significance to him, the scent that drifted off her hair and skin whenever she swung close enough that he could smell it, the way her fingers seemed so thin and delicate in the palm of his hand... the feeling of holding her in his arms. And that smile that could light up her eyes completely.

It was like a flash had gone off in his head, and suddenly specific moments swam back into view in his thoughts.

Maylu, cradling the dress in her arms. _"Sometimes, you just know,"_ she had said.

Maylu, in the back seat of his car, flushed and laughing after he'd tickled her.

Maylu, sitting on top of him in her kitchen, eyes sparkling wickedly as she wielded a bag of icing.

Maylu, cooped up in a closet with him, their legs nearly touching, revealing memories of him he'd thought long gone.

Maylu.

As the girl started to pick up more and more of the dance and their steps grew smoother, Chaud fell deeper and deeper into thought.

What was it about her that fascinated him so thoroughly? Could it be excused as a simple case of teenage hormones finally making themselves known? After all, she was the only girl he spent a fair amount of time with. Yai and Anetta, he only saw in passing - and though he cared about both of them, sometimes they annoyed the hell out of him.

He knew he enjoyed her as a friend - her spirit and her feistiness, her kindness and bravery, her sense of humor and the way she looked adorable when she pouted...

Chaud's thoughts halted momentarily. That last one seemed a little out of place in the 'friendship' category.

But still, how could you know? Know that it wasn't just the chemicals of your body playing mind games with you? That it wasn't something that would just up and vanish when you got bored?

He was abruptly interrupted from another attempt at answering these thoughts.

"I'm here," Lan said grumpily, skating into the room.

Chaud and Maylu looked up in unison, wearing matching expressions of shock as they chorused, "Lan?!"

Maylu was the first to collect herself. "Lan, what on earth are you doing here?" She let go of Chaud's hand and turn to face her childhood friend. Chaud, feeling suddenly awkward, shoved his now-free hand into his pocket. "When Chaud offered last week, you said you didn't want to come!"

Lan groaned. "Megaman told Mom about the lessons, and Mom said I had to come at least once," he grumbled, glaring at his PET. An sheepish chuckle floated out of the device. "Which means I actually have to do it, because Megaman is the worst liar in the world and couldn't cover for me to save his life. Or mine." He pulled the skate clips off his shoes, tossing them onto the floor in the corner. "So fine, I'm here! Can we get this over with,_ pleeease_?!"

Maylu looked at Chaud, a jumble of emotions skittering across her face in such a way that he wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling. "Well, I was starting to get the hang of it..." she said, gaze returning to Lan, "So Chaud can show you how, now..."

Lan eyed Chaud suspiciously. "I don't actually have to dance with you, do I?" he said to his longtime friend and rival.

Chaud rolled his eyes. "Hell no," he said, crossing his arms. "I'll just show you how from a distance, and you imitate it. Assuming you can. I mean, you are kind of a dunderhead."

"Hey!"

"And you can try the steps with me, for practice," Maylu added. Chaud snuck a glance at her, wondering if it cost her to offer Lan the option, considering how she'd decided to give up her feelings on him. He thought at first that she seemed to be fine - until he noticed the way her hands fidgeted anxiously with her skirt.

Chaud felt a faint prickling sensation in his hands; his fingers curled against his palms.

"Yeah, okay, fine," Lan said. "So what do I gotta do?"

Clearing his throat, Chaud again had his butler start the music, and he demonstrated the first few steps in the pattern. The brown-haired boy grumbled with each time he was forced to repeat his attempts, until finally he could at least do them well enough that Maylu stepped over to offer him practice as a partner. Chaud watched as Lan reluctantly took Maylu's hand and touched her waist.

He also saw the conflicted look on her face, and the faint tinge of pink in her cheeks.

Any doubts he'd had left concerning how he felt about her were suddenly burned completely in the raw heat of jealousy that flooded through his veins.

It wasn't that he felt he somehow had a right to her, that he had some kind of claim on her. No... it was that he wished he could be where Lan was, rather than sitting back and being forced to watch as the other boy stood there instead. That he knew what it was doing to Maylu, to be dancing with the boy she'd chased after for years of her life. That he wished he could be the one she would get excited and nervous to dance with instead.

The feeling twisted his stomach into knots.


	8. Milkshakes Melt, People Change

**A/N:** This chapter title is an homage to one of my favorite songs, "Goodwill Hunting by Myself" by Ludo. :D This chapter took me a bit to get right - I wrote half of it, then got stuck - but I think it came together nicely in the end.

**XoXoXoXoX**

"So what's so important that you actually bothered to call?" Yai said, sipping her strawberry milkshake and acting for all the world like she didn't really care and was only deigning to be here.

Chaud gazed down at his menu as they sat across from each other in the little bistro; they had taken advantage of the beautiful morning by requesting a table outside on the patio. The prices on the menu would have made the rest of their friends pass out. He sighed and laid it down on the table. "Look, Ayano..." He folded his hands and rested them on his stomach, leaning back in his chair. "There's not really a great way of saying this. It's just..."

He took in a deep breath, then exhaled quietly.

"I feel like I need to be fair to you and tell you that I only think of you as a friend."

Yai looked up from her milkshake, clearly stunned by the statement. It was clear that she had not anticipated even the subject of their conversation, let alone his actual thoughts. "W... wh..." she sputtered, trying to collect herself and feign indignance. "I hardly see what that has to do with m..." She trailed off, however, as she caught sight of his blue eyes gazing directly into hers, quiet and unflinching. It was clearly foolish to attempt further bluffing at this point, much as she might have liked to. "Hmph." She sat back in her own chair, closing her eyes and continuing to sip at her drink, her eyebrows lowered in a very Yai frown. "Well, why on earth are you telling me this now? It's not like you've ever..." she paused, "... you know." The girl waved a hand vaguely, looking irritable. "Shown interest." Then she flushed and looked away. "Not that I care."

Chaud sighed, rubbing his neck. "I didn't think it was important," he admitted, tracing a finger over the words on the menu. "I thought if I just left it alone, you'd lose interest eventually and move on." He shook his head. "But I realized recently that ignoring it doesn't make it go away. That it isn't fair to you to act like I don't know what's going on."

Yai raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms across her bright red dress. "You just realized out of the blue and decided to be all gentlemanly, huh?"

He winced, looking somewhat guilty. "No, not exactly." The boy hesitated, averting his gaze. "I saw what it was doing to someone else. She was stuck. Feeling miserable about it, but still hoping, because he'd never said 'no'."

Yai watched him, her stifled feelings of grief hidden beneath the convenient wave of curiosity that overcame her with this turn in conversation. "Friend of yours?"

Chaud cleared his throat. "Ah... yeah."

Her eyebrow went back up, and she leaned onto the table, resting her chin in her hand. She was privately delighted when he seemed to squirm a bit under her suddenly intense gaze. "There's something more to it than that?" she prodded, interested in the way his response had been faltering and awkward. When he didn't answer this time, she added, "You like her."

Chaud grimaced in response, putting his hand to his forehead. "...Yeah."

Again Yai pushed down the feelings of rejection and dismay that threatened to overwhelm her, choosing to again latch onto her curiosity - and to enjoy as much of his discomfort as possible. "So the great Chaud Blaze finally falls for someone," she said, her voice dry. "Who is this girl, anyway?"

At this, Chaud suddenly seemed to be looking anywhere but her.

Yai eyed him suspiciously. "Please don't tell me it's that too-tall, small-foreheaded carrot-top that follows you around like a lost puppy."

Chaud gave her an exasperated look. "It's not Anetta."

She almost-but-not-quite-smiled, relieved. "Well, good. You two would be a terrible match. So? Who is it?"

Again he seemed to be unable to meet her gaze, his hands toying with the napkin that had been wrapped around his silverware.

Yai frowned, crossing her arms again. "It's someone I know, isn't it?" She pondered on this, wondering who on earth it could be. Had there been anyone worth considering as competition besides Anetta? Someone she'd completely overlooked? Who was that close to him? She watched Chaud as he took a sip from his glass of water. "Don't tell me you like Lan!"

The poor boy sprayed water into the air beside the table, spitting out the water he'd only just taken in. He coughed profusely, grabbing for the napkin. "What the hell?! No!"

Yai settled down again. "I was just checking. You barely talk to anyone else, you know. Except for that Sharo boy. And I'm guessing it's not him, either."

"Look, it's a recent development, okay?" Chaud said, wiping his chin. "There's not really any history for you to guess from."

The blonde girl frowned, annoyed. She was more determined by the minute to get to the bottom of this - as much to find out why he was so reluctant to share as to know who she'd lost to. "Who else besides Lan could you possibly be so tight-lipped about in front of me?" she demanded, flicking through the options in her mind. "There's no one else who'd be such a close connection between you and m..." Then she trailed off, her thoughts stopping dead in their tracks.

Chaud suddenly looked about ready to flee the scene.

"You can't be serious," said Yai, staring at him. "You... you like M... M..."

He shot out of his chair as if it was on fire, power-walking to the door.

Yai gaped after him, her expression a mixture of bafflement and dismay.

_She'd lost to her best friend?!_

**XoXoXoXoX**

After getting over her initial shock, Yai had managed to catch up to Chaud and haul him back to the table by the back of his jacket.

"So?" she brushed her skirt down and sat herself across from him once again. "What was that all about? I didn't even know you were _capable_ of freaking out like that."

The boy looked sullen, sunk back in his chair with his shoulders slightly hunched and hands shoved in pockets. "I didn't freak out. I just haven't exactly..." he cleared his throat, "...talked with anyone about it yet. I hadn't really expected that... particular subject... to be part of our, ah, discussion."

Yai considered this. "You haven't talked to anyone at all?"

"No." He took a sip of his previously abandoned water. "Even if I were in the habit of gossiping about my personal life, who would I discuss this with? You and Anetta weren't exactly prime candidates, for one." Yai snorted in response. "My father would either look at me as though I'd grown two heads or ignore me completely. Laika's a good guy, but he's even less interested in this kind of thing than I am. And to finish off the circle of people close to me, we have Lan and Maylu. I don't think I need to comment on that."

Yai slurped more milkshake through her straw, gazing at him as she processed all this. "So why now, all of a sudden? I mean, you've known her for years, and obviously _this_-" she gestured at him, "-is new."

The boy ran a hand through the side of his hair, letting out a huff of air. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "I've never actually felt this way before about anyone, so the entire experience is sort of bewildering. But I think it kind of started when I took her dress shopping for the masquerade. It had been a long time since we'd really seen each other one-on-one, and I guess, this time around, something just... clicked. Before I knew it, I was seeing her practically every other day, for one reason or another. And I was really enjoying myself. It's..." he paused, seeming to search for the words. "It's similar to how I feel when I'm with Lan. I feel comfortable around her. Everything just comes naturally. But at the same time..." he hesitated, then cleared his throat, clearly not wanting to go into detail, "at the same time, there are some things that are definitely different than they are with Lan."

Chaud shifted awkwardly in his seat, suddenly seeming extremely uncomfortable again. "Anyway, that's all there is to it." These heart-to-heart discussions really weren't his style, and he was pretty sure he had filled his quota for months to come with this one.

Yai was continuing to enjoy his obvious discomfort. She also thought, grudgingly, that painful though it was, if there was someone she had to lose to, she didn't mind quite so much if it was Maylu. After all, it was clear that Maylu hadn't purposely gone after Chaud to win him over. And she was Yai's best friend. As Yai was highly fond of her dear friend, she could hardly fault Chaud for seeing all the good in Maylu as well. "So what are you going to do about it?" the blonde girl said, folding her hands delicately under her chin and gazing at him, the corner of her mouth quirking faintly, as if she were holding back a smirk at his expense.

"Do?" he repeated blankly.

"You know. To woo her."

The boy coughed as a sip of water went down the wrong tube, and Yai almost felt bad. Almost. "I wasn't planning on doing anything!" he sputtered, wiping his chin with a napkin. "And even if I had been, she's still in the process of getting over Lan!"

"So?" Yai seemed unphased by this. "It's easier to get over an old crush if you have a new one to look forward to, you know."

Chaud opened his mouth to retort, but found he had nothing to say.

The girl smirked, shrugging. "Well, I have better things to do with my time than play matchmaker. But I will say that your ball is pretty conveniently timed as an opportunity." She looked over to a waiter, lifting a finger. "Garcon!"

The girl paid their bill and stood, daintily dabbing at her lips with her napkin before leaving. Chaud still looked blank and silent, as if something in his mental processors had blue-screened. Yai grinned to herself, waving to him casually over her shoulder as she made her exit. There would probably be romance films, a cozy bathrobe, and tubs of strawberry ice cream on the agenda for tonight, and also probably a lot of boxes of Kleenex. She knew that the grief that hung at the back of her heart would overcome her eventually. Still, at present, she had it in check.

And for now, she would allow herself to thoroughly enjoy the knowledge of what Chaud Blaze looked like dumbfounded.


	9. Girl Talk

**A/N:** I'm going to warn you right off the bat that this chapter is ridiculously short. But I keep trying to find time amidst busy busy life to write a nice big chunk for you guys again and I just haven't yet, what with moving and a few trips and work - so in the meantime, to assure you that I have not abandoned nor forsaken this story, and that it is in fact still my baby, I wrote this tiny tidbit as quickly as I could before bed. I really, really hope I can write more soon - but if I can't, just know that it's always in the back of my mind!

I love you guys, you all have been so incredibly supportive of this story! THANK YOU! I also know I got at least one question from a reviewer, I'll try to answer that one and any others I get the next time I post a chapter!

**XoXoXoXoX**

"He wasn't a cheapskate with the dress, right?"

"Yai!" Maylu said, startled. "Of course not!"

Yai shrugged, undoing her left braid carefully. "You never know with men," she said, shaking her head and sighing.

"Oh, come on." Maylu rolled her eyes, pulling out a barrette. "Chaud is a gentleman and you know it!"

Her friend sniffed, running a gold-trimmed brush through her long hair. "I suppose." She paused. "Though it certainly would be amusing to see him behaving… ungentlemanly." Yai snuck a sly smile over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised pointedly. She was immediately rewarded with a tell-tale pink color flooding Maylu's cheeks.

"Y… Yai!" Maylu fumbled the button she'd been unfastening, tugging a little too hard and popping it straight off her vest. "Ack!"

Hiding a smirk at the reaction, Yai gave her a wide-eyed gaze, the picture of innocence. "What?" Teasing Maylu was almost as fun as teasing Chaud, she was noticing - and she planned to take complete advantage of the embarrassment of both of them as her 'consolation prize.'

Maylu didn't answer at first, her mind flicking back to the scent of cologne that had caught her attention in the shop closet, then further back to the fall in the kitchen. Her voice suddenly seemed trapped in her throat, as though if she spoke, it would simply trip and stumble into a heap of nonsense. A quick shake of her head returned the majority of her composure to her grasp. "Well, it's just… weird, talking about that!"

Yai gave her an exasperated look. "Please, Maylu. You've heard how teenagers talk. As far as they're concerned, I was keeping it completely high-class." She stepped behind the ornate folding screen that served as a changing area, swapping her expensive red dress for a simple towel to wrap herself in before emerging from behind the screen once more.

Maylu took her turn behind the screen, slipping into a soft, fluffy towel with a contented sigh. "But I mean… people we actually, like… _know_! Our… our friends! That's just… weird!"

Yai resumed brushing her hair, examining herself in the vanity mirror carefully. "So you're weirded out by thinking of Chaud that way."

"N… no, that's… that's not what I…" Maylu trailed off, not sure what she was trying to say. Actually, thinking of Chaud that way seemed to be quite the opposite of weird - natural, in fact - and that was what threw her for a loop.

What on earth did it mean…?

She shook her head, joining Yai at the mirror. Something to think about for the remainder of their spa day.


End file.
